Amar’e Stoudemire said after the Knicks’ loss to the Pistons on Tuesday he’s under the impression he can play up to 25 minutes per game going forward with the blessing of owner James Dolan, who is trying to reinvent the wheel with his omnipresent medical staff. Stoudemire still can’t play back-to-backs and he is not supposed to play Wednesday night against the Pacers.

It’s clear Stoudemire isn’t opposed to sitting out back-to-backs or avoiding playing three games in five nights. But if he’s going to play, he wants to play.

And if you saw his two athletic, powerful driving dunks in the first half against Detroit, there’s some hope he has more to give than he’s shown in five-minute snippets.

Before Tuesday, Woodson said Stoudemire was at a 15-minute cap that could be exceeded by a touch if he had to. The minutes restriction is a sore spot for the players and coaching staff. Stoudemire played 15:07 in Detroit, but probably could have gone more if it was a closer game.

Before the game, he left the locker room saying to reporters, “Legs feel fresh, Legs feel fresh.’’

Kenyon Martin, who started at center, played a season-high 28:58. Martin has no predetermined restrictions. With Tyson Chandler out, a meeting of the minds has concluded Martin will play every game unless he says he can’t go because of swollen ankles.

So with Stoudemire and Martin moving up in Woodson’s rotation, the only thing left is for Carmelo Anthony to start playing like he did last season.

There is no explanation for his troubles. Yes, he doesn’t get the calls LeBron James gets, and that could be due to his incessant whining, which picked up steam last season. There’s a theory Anthony is viewed by referees as causing the contact on fouls and they are leery to bail him out. His frustration boiled over into another technical foul on Tuesday.

Perhaps he feels the weight of the world on him, knowing he has a chance to leave New York this summer and wondering whether he wants to stay in town with a mediocre franchise where he is the scapegoat.

Anthony has not shot well since the preseason, can’t find his jump shot for long stretches and is missing a lot around the basket. He was 5-for-15 Tuesday night after three quarters before getting hot. The left shoulder, he claims, is not an issue, but he still has maintenance treatment on it, so it could be on his mind.

The level of dejection coming out of his locker is noticeable. Anthony could cling to a lot of excuses, including the injuries, but he’s not the usual optimistic Melo. He seems miserable.

The takeaway from the Detroit loss is the Knicks are not good enough to beat a lousy Pistons team when they are missing three key pieces in Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler and Metta World Peace. Especially on an off night by Anthony.

Maybe the Knicks play better Wednesday night against the powerful Pacers with starting point guard Beno Udrih less rusty. He is fun to watch run an offense, but made a couple of ghastly turnovers Tuesday, looking more like a guy who was playing in preseason.

The only guarantees are there will be at least one “Fire Woodson’’ chant and Woodson won’t get fired — Dolan is away in Tampa opening for the Eagles.

One final aside: It continues to be misrepresented Iman Shumpert had his knee cleaned out in July. As reported by The Post, it was late August. He didn’t need crutches and did not have a limp.

Under HIPA laws, Shumpert insisted the Knicks did not announce the surgery because he was afraid it would be misconstrued as directly related to his earlier ACL surgery.

The "incessant whining" is the result of the lack of foul calls Marc Berman..you had it backwards! Though there is no excuse for whining instead of getting back on D, everybody needs to agree that Carmelo better start getting calls! NBA seems to favor the FLOPPERS like Lebron, KD, and Harden, and completely fine with discriminating against Melo. Whining or not there is no excuse for him not to be getting the same calls, they've all been around the same time, almost the same offensive talents, and has that "GO-TO" persona for their team!

No one on the Knicks team whines more than Melo and Tyson. Perhaps when Melo takes his team to an NBA Finals like Lebron, KD and Harden did, he'll get some calls. Until then, he needs to stop the whining, get back on defense, and stop missing shots in the fourth quarter.

@neon light I think Melo needs to FLOP!!! There are a lot of NBA players that took their team to the finals, who are quite as whiny if not more than MELO, and they don't get the love either. Going to the FINALS shouldn't be a discriminating point for get fouls called, they are all NBA players and deserve equal treatment from the officials.

Tonight's closing seconds in regulation is a perfect example, Shump barely put a finger on George's 3pt shot and it gets called a foul. Melo gets bump out of his shoes on the last shot and no call!